After seeing the results I got out of Kodak TMax 100, I had high hopes for Delta 100. Delta 100, being a modern emulsion, is a good film stock: sharp, lots of contrast, and some decent latitude. Add to this that I’ve seen great results from Ilford HP5+ and FP4+, could that same magic work on Delta 100? Honestly, I think I worked myself up too much; when I first saw the results, I was disappointed, but quickly realised that maybe, for once, the data sheets were wrong.
Film Specs
Manufacturer: Harman Technologies
Name: Ilford Delta 100
Type: Panchromatic B&W
Film Base: Acetate
Film Speed: ASA-100
Formats Available: 135, 120, Sheets
For this roll, I used ASA-100 (box speed) as my benchmark, then shot it between -2 and +2 stops, which translates to ASA-25 to ASA-400. On the Massive Dev Chart, there are two listed times for Delta 100 and Diafine, and they’re both 5+5. What’s surprising is that it’s the same time whether you rate the film at ASA-50 or ASA-100, an interesting change given that, most of the time, the speed rating is faster than the box speed, not slower. I went with my Nikon F5 and the 28mm f/2.8 lens with the aperture set to f/11. Then I used the EV adjustment control to move between the -2 to +2 using a remote release.
In the introduction, I mentioned that I was disappointed, and I still am, about this test. The disappointment comes down to one thing: the times stated that the 5+5 time is for both ASA-50 and ASA-100, so I figured that Delta 100 would perform better on the over-exposure side of the test and poorly on the under-exposure side. It appears that the opposite is true; the results speak for themselves. Delta 100 in this combination works up to two stops of under-exposure with great results at box speed. Could you recover the images on the over-exposure side? In some cases, yes, the one-stop over is easily fixed in post-processing, but the two-stop might need a bit more heavy-handed work.
Despite being disappointed in the test results, I was more disappointed that the data was wrong than that the image quality was. Delta 100 is an excellent film with lots of good things going for it, and I think that it helps with mitigating some of the disappointment. Even with the two-stops, you still get good images on the frames that work, with only a light touch in editing. If you feel that the contrast of TMax 100 is too harsh, then Delta 100 might be more your speed with a more middle-high contrast, and that isn’t changed even with the one-stop under-exposure, although it does get lower with the one-stop over-exposure. The edge sharpness is still excellent, and the grain structure isn’t too harsh, although there is a bit more visible grain, which isn’t a bad thing.
Despite my disappointment, I did find out one thing through this test: don’t always trust the data. While MDC says this time combination will work with ASA-100 and ASA-50, in my eyes this combination is best when the film is exposed at either ASA-100 or ASA-200 for the best results. I’m not sure what the results would be by dropping the time down to a 4+4 or 3+3, but that might clean up the overexposure; that’s a trial for a different time.